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Observation
April 22, 2020

Pembrolizumab for Treatment of a Patient With Multiple Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinomas and Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa

Author Affiliations
  • 1Institute of Dermatology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
  • 2Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
  • 3Institute of Dermatology, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
  • 4Pathology Unit, Department of Laboratories, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
JAMA Dermatol. 2020;156(6):708-710. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2020.0304

Immunomodulating agents such as anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) have recently gained a crucial role in the treatment of numerous human malignant tumors.1 Cemiplimab is a novel PD-1 blocker approved for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) in patients who are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation.2 During the last few years, other anti–PD-1 agents such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab have occasionally been used off-label to manage cases of advanced cSCC.3 We describe 1 patient with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) and multiple cSCCs who was successfully treated with pembrolizumab.

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